1. Chapter 9 The Communications Infrastructure

2. Origins of Communications Infrastructure • What is the Communications Infrastructure? • The underlying physical structure of communication networks • Ancient Greeks, Romans and Chinese used fire to communicate over long distances • Limitations? Consume natural resources, susceptible to rain/fog/bad weather • Strengths? Can (in favorable weather) be seen for long distances, relatively inexpensive • The invention of the telegraph by Samuel Morse (1844) began the development of our modern infrastructure

3. The Telegraph • Invented by Samuel Morse in 1844 • How did it work? Morse code. • Morse code is like digital communication except that instead of on/off, it was dot/dash (in electrical pulses) • http://www.scphillips.com/morse/trans.html • The first words sent? “What hath God wrought?” • By 1859 telegraph lines spanned the US • Dubbed: “Lightning lines” for their speed • In 1866 they connected the US and Europe via undersea cables • The telegraph began the general shrinking toward McLuhan’s global village • By enabling businesses, families, governments and militaries to communication with each other

4. The Telephone • Alexander Graham Bell developed the earliest telephone in 1876 • Drastically reducing the value of the telegraph, and ushering in a new era of long distance communication • Having spilled acid on his lap, the first words transmitted to his assistant, “Mr. Watson, come here, I need you!” • Initially, the telephone was conceived of as a tool for mass media broadcasting • Popular world-wide at the turn of the 20th century • Declined in usage as a broadcast medium when radio emerged in the 1920s

5. Telephony and Universal Service • Bell Telephone Company formed in 1877 • Began a series of vertical integration moves that enabled it to own most of the related businesses in the industry • Company is renamed as AT&T (American Telephone and Telegraph) • Continuing monopolistic actions, AT&T fears Antitrust lawsuit • Sherman Antitrust Act (1890) prohibits the restraint of free trade • They commit themselves to the principle of Universal Service in the Kingsbury Commitment • That everyone should have access to infrastructure networks (ie. A phone line) • Government lets “Ma Bell” reign as a natural monopoly—one that makes economic sense • AT&T expands to establish the first radio network, ultimately withdrawing to ownership of the infrastructure, not the stations

6. The breakup of Ma Bell • The great depression lost AT&T substantial income, leading to major job loss and ultimately Government injunction • The FCC was formed in 1934 and began looking into AT&T’s business practices • Seeking to find out if they are anti-competition • The resolution? In 1984!! The Modified Final Judgement (MFJ) forced AT&T to sell off or divest its local phone companies into Regional Bell Operating Companies (PBOCs) • “The Baby Bells” ex., SBC (Southwestern Bell)

7. Going Wireless • Wireless communication originated with Guglielmo Marconi’s Wireless telegraph (1896) • After WWII, wireless mircrowave systems replaced telephone lines for major city to city communication • Microwave transmission works through highly focused beams of radio waves • Satellites? Arthur C. Clarke (science fiction author) proposed microwave transmitters in space covering the globe with signals in 1945 • Became a reality in 1962 with AT&T’s Telstar

8. Beginning of Broadband • AT&T (who else) built the first broadband infrastructure for network television • Using Coaxial cable and microwave transmission beginning in 1946 • Cable TV was born in 1948 (in places like Storrs) • The FCC blocked cable from entering into large city markets in 1966 to protect broadcast network television • Reversed the Ban in 1972 • In the 1970s satellites started serving as the primary option, including cable channels such as HBO (1975) • In 1995 Direct Broadcast Satellites (DBS) began to transmit TV into homes with mini-dishes • Fiber optics were introduced in 1977 and slowly replaced predecessors • 1990s saw coaxial cable being replaced, making way for digital cable and high speed internet

9. Governmental Deregulation • Landmark legislation: Telecommunications Act of 1996 • Removed many restrictions on companies, primarily allowed telephone companies to carry cable signals and cable companies to provide telephone service • Was meant to reduce consumer prices and promote innovation through competition • Not yet entirely fulfilled • Resulted in massive cross-industry mergers • See AOL Time Warner (now Time Warner)

10. Technology underlying the Infrastructure • Applied Electromagnetism and the Telegraph • Electricity causes iron to exhibit magnetic properties • Electric pulses triggered by a switch would cause a thin strip of metal to click up and down miles away (magnetized, demagnetized) • Short pulses were dots; Longer pulses were dashes • Still, telephone required shouting • AT&T (with Bell) developed the first repeater amplifier that would enable the speaker to speak at a normal level • First Transcontinental call NYC to San Francisco (1915) – Bell to Watson

11. Infrastructure: Choice of Medium • 1880s saw massive number of telephone lines (and electrical ones) installed on poles • Too many lines—not practical (picture from 1890) • Too much interference from electrical wires • Problems led to further innovations and transmission media • Multiplexing (1918) – a way of transmitting multiple conversations over the same wires at the same time • Uses higher frequency “carrier waves” • Coaxial Cable (After WWII) – shields signal from interference typically found in single (or even twisted pair) phone wiring • Has the bandwidth to carry video and was shortly used to send television signals from one station to another • Eventually used to connect cable TV to homes

12. Infrastructure: Choice of Medium (cont’d) • Microwave (1948) – though used in radar towers during WWII, it reached consumers in 1948 • At the time, 1000s of calls were multiplexed and sent through the air • Signals were amplified and relayed every 20-30 miles • Enabled First Coast-to-Coast Television connection in 1951 • Cable TV companies used it to get programming where antennas wouldn’t reach • Now used by TV mobile units to send signals back to the studio • Satellite (1945; 1962) – envisioned in the 40s, but AT&T makes it a reality in 1962. • Uses microwave signals to communicate • Sender has an uplink, the satellite has a transponder (receiver) and then the receiver on the ground has a downlink

13. Infrastructure: Choice of Medium (cont’d) • Digital Carriers (1962) – the first digital telephone call was made using a T1 line (a digital carrier system) • T1 can carry 1.5 million bits of data per second, or 24 simultaneous conversations • Not fast enough? Try a T3 (at 45 million bits per second—that’s 45 Megabits!) • Fiber Optics (1977) – first systems were meant to replace the T1. • Based on the early designs of Bell’s photophone (1880) • Optical signals travel 100s of miles before fading (very little need for amplification) • This is the uber-fast transfer bringing VR to your neighborhood at over 1 Billion bits per second, a Gigabit per second!! • By the way… the speed keeps getting better—people keep finding ways to transmit light pulses more efficiently. Doubling the speed every 18 months!

14. Data Switching Technology • Switching directs information to its intended destination—these devices have also evolved • Manual Switching (1920’s heyday) – Manual operators using an actual switchboard as seen in the movies • Automatic Switching (1951) – this was the first time that long distance calls could be made directly from the home (without operators) thanks to automatic switching • 1965 saw AT&T develop the first digital switch (crossing computers with the telephone switch) • Intelligent Networks - now phone companies use 2 separate networks to handle conversations (1) and signaling/connection (2) • Resulted thanks to Captain Crunch’s Blue Boxes which could rip off the phone companies – popularized by Steve Jobs and Stephen Wozniak

15. Data Switching Technology • Packet Networks – divides data streams into small chunks, then finds the fastest route to the destination (even if it has to share a channel) • The Internet is a Packet Network • Initially this concept was developed to protect the military from electronic devastation following a nuclear attack • Evidence that this system works was seen after 9/11 • Cable Converters – The converters were once used to help antenna-based TV sets connect to cable; then came cable-ready TV sets • Now we need set-top boxes again, unless we shell out for the digital televisions

16. Going Digital • Phone Modems – modulator-demodulator (mo-dem) convert digital pulses to tones that can be accepted by the phone system (slow at max of 56kbps) • ISDN – Integrated Services Digital Network; convert voices to digital signals within the telephone, not inside the company’s central switching office (faster at 128kbps) • Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) – phone company’s faster, high-speed internet service for video and voice over standard phone line (faster still at over 1 Mbps) • Digital Cable – uses standard coaxial cable, but can now compress 5 digital channels into 1; Here comes Video On Demand. • Cable Modems – Internet data fills same “pipe” as cable tv (more reason to switch to digital). This mode is even faster at up to 10Mbps (200x POTS!) Let’s go for a test-drive of Our system’s connection.

17. Mobile Communication Technologies • Mobile Telephone – originally used a single central antenna and could only handle 46 simultaneous conversations in any one city • 47th caller didn’t get a dial tone—this helped stall the adoption of this technology • Pagers – act as mini radio receivers that monitor a channel multiplexed on top of an FM radio station or satellite channel • Waiting to go off until they get a specific numerical code that is unique for each number, then decodes the attached message • This also included two-way pagers (those completely annoying nextel phones) • Cellular Radio – The first cell phones transmitter analog signals along radio waves • As the user moved around, different cell towers would take over the call • These were also HUGE (eg., see any movie from the 80s)

18. Mobile Communication Technologies • Digital Cellular – Second-generation cell phones are digital, using smaller cells and digital compression • U.S. Lags behind other developed countries • Failed to create one standard • 3rd Generation phones have internet, cameras, email and text messaging (some of you have these now) • When fully developed, we will be regularly sending full-motion video through cell phones (TV?) • Wireless Internet Options – 802.11b – G (newer) WiFi, sends packets through the air to wireless receivers at up to 10Mbps • We can use the Bluetooth protocol to interface cell phones with computers, mp3 players and cameras • LEO Satellites – Low Earth Orbit satellites will enable cheaper receivers and smaller antennas • MEO – middle earth orbit; GPS – Global Positioning System

19. The Telecommunications Industry Players • To find out more about the industry players, look in the book on page 286. • Key ideas to note: • An Oligopoly exists within each segment (long-distance and local phone, and mobile carriers) of the infrastructure industry. • Mergers, bankruptcies and acquisitions have resulted in a powerful few • For information regarding recent legislation that impacts your rights, pay particular attention to “Big Brother is Listening” on page 295